High life: An artist's impression of the planned towers and cable cars

A spectacular new cable-car system is set to soar high above London’s River Thames. The stunning addition to the capital’s skyline will see gondolas glide 300ft above the water suspended from cables anchored to giant towers, giving commuters and tourists a majestic new view of the city.

It will cross the river from the Greenwich peninsula to the Royal Docks, linking the O2 Arena south of the river to the ExCeL exhibition centre in East London.

The £40million project – which has the full backing of London Mayor Boris Johnson – already has planning permission and, if funding can be agreed, it could be operating in time for next summer’s Olympic Games.

Mr Johnson – who last year pushed through the capital’s city-wide cycle hire scheme, nicknamed Boris Bikes – is confident it will become a major tourist attraction rivalling similar cable cars in Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona.

He said: ‘We are a significant step closer to being able to cruise the East London skyline via an elegant cable car spanning the mighty Thames.

‘It will be an exhilarating way for Londoners and visitors to explore our great city while providing a much-needed river crossing to support the regeneration of this quarter of the capital.’

The cable cars will transport 2,500 people across the Thames every hour, the equivalent of about 40 buses.

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It will stretch two-thirds of a mile and have up to 34 gondolas carrying a maximum of ten passengers each. The 300ft support towers will rival the 440ft London Eye on the skyline, but will still be dwarfed by the Shard, which at 1,017ft will be the tallest building in Europe when it is completed next year.

The cable car will cross the river from the Greenwich peninsula to the Royal Docks, linking the O2 Arena south of the river to the ExCeL exhibition centre in East London

An announcement is expected next week on who will build the cable car system, which has been designed by architects Wilkinson Eyre.

There were concerns the cables might pose a danger to planes flying in to London City Airport, but a review by National Air Traffic Services said the risks were minimal, concluding that an accident would be likely to happen ‘less than once every 15million years’.

Transport for London believes there is a need for a new crossing east of Tower Bridge where it can be difficult to cross the river by bike or foot, and said last week a ‘preferred bidder’ for the construction of the cable car had been selected and would be announced following the signing of legal agreements.

Mace, the company building the Shard, are current favourites. It had been hoped that a private-sector company would fund the construction but Transport for London is still seeking a private partner and said that it would get funding from advertising, branding, fare revenue and sponsorship.

'An exhilarating way for Londoners and visitors to explore': London Mayor Boris Johnson, pictured with Arnold Schwarzenegger, has given the cable car project his full backing